2024 Best Sights Around Salt Lake City Utah
University of Utah - Salt Lake City, Utah
Intro
Salt Lake City, the capital of the state of Utah as well as the largest metro-area in the state. Unfortunately SLC is the lesser frequented city in the mountain region of the United States, widely being overshadowed by Denver as well as the skiing areas of Breckinridge and Vail.
What people usually miss is a quaint little city with a population of just over 200k, with breathtaking views and a lot to offer, and so much to offer within a stones throw.
Salt Lake City, Utah
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In 2014, I obtained a job with a hotel group as a corporate training manager, where I was sent to several hundred hotels within a six month period to train the hotel associates on our systems and operational procedures all over the United States.
In addition to Denver and SLC being beautiful, Salt Lake City was special to me. During World War II, my Grandfather was stationed in Salt Lake City before being sent to London. He had met my Grandmother at a USO dance in New York City prior to his departure and they corresponded while he was in Salt Lake. Eventually, in 1942, my Grandmother took a train from New York filled with soldiers, to Utah where she married my Grandfather and lived there for a year before he was sent to England. A woman, who had only been to two states in her 24 years, took a train across the country to marry her husband by herself and stay with him in an unknown city for a year while working for the war efforts. It was an interesting story to me in addition to being a personal one. I was sure a lot of the shops and restaurants would be different from 1942 to 2014, but in this trip I wanted to see the army base where they would have been stationed as well as wander around the downtown Salt Lake City area. I was very close with my Grandma all through my life and I wanted to connect with a little part of her life before I was born.
During this time, I was tasked with figuring out my transport between assignments. I was working with a hotel in Reno, Nevada and had three days to make it to St. Louis, Missouri. The logical choice would have been to fly, but I had a little longer to get there and I had never been to Denver, Colorado or Salt Lake City, Utah so I took this as an opportunity to explore. Also, because I was traveling so much, my rule of thumb was if it was easy enough to keep the rental car and drive I preferred to do that.
The first thing that surprised me about Utah was when I crossed the Nevada / Utah border, the speed limit was 80 MPH. Growing up in the congested area of the NYC region, doing 70 MPH most times was unthinkable let alone having the posted speed limit at 80 MPH. I was staying in a Marriott hotel in downtown Salt Lake City. When I arrived I immediately checked in and went right back out to explore Utah's capital city. I went by the University of Utah, Temple Square, and the State Capitol; which had a gorgeous view. I didn't do any shopping but there were quite a lot of retail stores in downtown Salt Lake City. For being an inner city, it had a stunning backdrop and truly was a beautiful city. I did not go to the great salt lake but I did drive by it on my way into the city. I usually try to see local attractions, as well as touristy sights such as parks and museums. With that said I was only in the city for one day so I just got a high level overview, so I missed the Utah Museum of Natural History that looked interesting. For dinner I went to Takashi Sushi at the recommendation of a friend. This restaurant was absolutely delightful with great ambiance.
The next morning after breakfast I went to Fort Douglas Military Museum. This used to be the military base in Salt Lake City during World War II, but is now a museum honoring military veterans. I spent most of the morning there, exploring the outdoor space which housed military tanks, helicopters, and trucks. I also looked around the indoor portion of the museum which provided information on the base, uniforms worn, and soldiers that served. I also spoke to a historian who worked at the museum that told me some additional information. I mentioned my Grandfather was a Staff Sergeant and was stationed there with my Grandmother after they got married. I asked if they would have lived on the base and he mentioned at that rank and with his wife, they most likely would have been allowed to live off of the base. I found this interesting. It would have been difficult though to find where they were housed 72 years earlier.
I knew my Grandmother took a train filled with soldiers to Salt Lake City, Utah and lived in the city with my Grandfather for almost a year before he went to London and she went home to Brooklyn, but she didn't tell me much else past that so it was very interesting to see the place they spent the first year of their marriage and learn a little more about the base during the time they were there.
During a different road trip, I drove from New York to Los Angeles. We didn't stop in Salt Lake City because I had been the year earlier, but we did drive through on our way to Southern Utah, where we stayed a little south in Provo. When there, we went to Brigham Young University and drove around the campus, which was beautiful. When I head back to Utah, I would love to spend more time in Salt Lake City to see if I can find any more information on my Grandparent's time there. Also, being a movie buff, I would like to visit Park City and attend the Sundance Film Festival.
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Largest salt lake in the western region.
The cities population is just over 200,000.
Mormonism is the largest religion in the city.
Roseanne Bar, Derek Hough, and Julianne Hough were raised in SLC.
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The western states are a lot larger than many mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states, so driving to different cities and states in the region is doable but definitely a commitment. Provo, Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque are all a short flight or under a 10 hour driver from SLC. So if you are from another country or from a different region in the US, you may want to check out multiple areas in the region as you will most likely only need a few days to explore Salt Lake.
SLC has an airport you can fly into. The largest airports in the region would be Denver, Las Vegas, and Phoenix, so if you are thinking of road tripping the region and are coming from far away, it may be easier to fly into the latter three airports.
Downtown SLC is very walkable and Rideshare is widely popular in the US, but like I mentioned these states are big and you will need a car to get to other cities or the outskirts of Salt Lake.
Below I delve into a little further on some hotel options in Salt Lake City.
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State Capitol - Salt Lake City, Utah
Fort Douglas Museum - Salt Lake City, Utah
Tracy Aviary Botanical Gardens - Salt Lake City, Utah
Conclusion
If you are looking to explore a city in the west, steeped in rich history and exquisite beauty, make sure you don’t miss Salt Lake City. It is a region filled with beautiful lakes and parks, vast entertainment, and amazing restaurants. It also gives you the option to explore the mountain region of North America if your schedule allows, being a city less than 10 hours from 5 other major cities in the county.
Quote
“Once I came to salt lake city, I didn't want to go anywhere else.” John Stockton
Next on the Blog…
If the bigger US cities seem overwhelming and smaller cities are more your speed, check out my recent post on Richmond Virginia.
